What's the point of hashtags, anyway?
A Q&A with author Instagram specialist, Nicola Washington
Earlier this month, I asked some authors in the Empowered Author Facebook group what they were struggling with when it came to Instagram. There were a lot of questions! Fortunately I had Instagram expert Nicola Washington on hand to help answer them.
Nicola is a social media marketer who specialises in teaching writers to find more readers and build a community using Instagram. After taking part in Nicola's workshops, courses or mentoring, her clients say things like, 'I found my voice and no longer dread posting', 'your workshop was something entirely new - a lightbulb moment', and 'it gave me a different way to think about social media.' To access FREE support and resources and resources follow her Instagram account @toomuch_social For more information about her 1-2-1 and group services visit her website toomuchsocial.com
Q1: How narrow should our focus be on Instagram? Should I make a separate author profile and only ever post about author things, or is there room for also sharing other creative endeavours?
My advice to writers is always to make things as easy for yourself as possible which means I rarely advise creating a separate author account on Instagram. Instead, what I usually advise writers to do is to plan their content to cover multiple bases. Try thinking of your content as being divided into four or five ‘pots’ or ‘pillars’.Â
Pot 1: your ‘selfish’, promotional content. This is the content that asks your audience to do something you want them to do e.g sign up for a newsletter, order your book, leave a review, listen to a podcast episode etc.
Pot 2: you and your life. This is the content that gives your audience some sneak peeks ‘behind the scenes’ but you set the boundaries of what you do/ do not share. Instagram culture encourages us to think we have to share our whole life on the internet but, even if that was possible, it isn’t necessary. Posts about your other interests and creative pursuits are perfect for this ‘pot’.
Pots 3, 4, (5?): these pots should be closely linked to your book or work-in-progress. Identify the themes, ideas or issues that you explore in your book and think about how you could post about the same things on Instagram.Â
Cycle through the pots and you’ll end up with a good mix of content that will show your ideal readers why they should care about your book.
Q2: What’s the deal with hashtags? How many should I use?Â
Hashtags are one of the signals used by The Algorithms to determine who might be interested in your content. Basically, if a user has been interacting with content about romance fiction, and you use those words in your caption OR in your hashtags, this sends a signal to The Algorithm that the same user might be interested in your content too.Â
This is how the recommendations on your Explore page, your Reels feed, and suggested posts in your Home feed are put together on Instagram: The Algorithm notices what content you interact with. So, don’t leave The Algorithm guessing who to show your posts to, use hashtags!
When selecting which hashtags to use, I recommend keeping it simple and using Instagram’s own tools. When you start to type a hashtag you will be able to see how many times it has been used. Small hashtags will mean your posts stays on the ‘recent’ page for longer but may lead to less reach, while large hashtags will have greater potential reach, but also greater churn. I recommend using a combination of small, medium and large hashtags - anywhere between 3-10 is plenty.
Q3: It seems they're doing more and more to hamstring us and only promote the big accounts and there are endless spam comments to filter out. What should I do if I feel a bit let down by Instagram right now?
I won’t pretend Instagram hasn’t become harder in the last few years. The demands of the platform are much greater and organic reach has undoubtedly been squeezed.Â
If you’re feeling demoralised, I would firstly recommend taking an intentional break. Set yourself a date to return and then spend some time reacquainting yourself with why you liked the platform in the first place, and thinking about your content strategy.Â
Here are some questions that might help get you out of your funk:
Which are the accounts you enjoy interacting with the most?
What are they posting about? How are those accounts using the platform?
Is there content you are drawn to, or content you find off-putting?Â
Is there content you respond to by wanting to engage in conversation?
How might your responses to these first four questions shape how you show up?Â
Also have a think about how you’re using the platform:
Are you interacting with other accounts in the way you want people to interact with yours? If you want comments, are you commenting? If you want more views of your Stories, are you interacting with other peoples’ Stories etc.
Think about the things you care about - could you plan some posts around these issues or ideas? Look at my answer to question 1 for more guidance.
Evaluate how you frame Instagram in your life e.g as a source of validation, as a community, as a job? Because of the way Instagram is set up (like a popularity contest on steroids) it’s really common to feel crappy about ourselves, and what we do, when we don’t see the results we’d like, or we unfavourably compare ourselves to others who are getting those results. BUT if you frame Instagram as a place to build a community, or as a ‘job’ you do to assist with promotion, it can feel like an easier place to show up.
For more about creating a sense of community on Instagram, have a look at these two posts:
and
If you’d like some ideas about how you might treat Instagram as part of the ‘job’ of being a writer, this short video will give you some tips:
Bear in mind that Instagram is a long game. Very few people go viral (and those who do will tell you it isn’t always helpful) and despite what people might say, there is no magic ‘something’ that will deliver results with no effort at all. Success (however you define it) is usually achieved through consistency (of message, not necessarily volume of posting) and stamina!
Ps. about spam comments (they are SO annoying): I’d advise reviewing the hashtags you’re using. Test leaving certain ones out, or changing them completely to see if it makes a difference. I also find I get more spam comments when I geotag my posts as ‘London’ (where I live) so you could also experiment with that (if relevant).
Q4: Is it just about reels now? What should I do if I cannot face being on camera?
The over-emphasis on Reels is something Instagram themselves rolled back from at the start of 2023. They subsequently made changes to The Algorithms so that users should be (mostly, not exclusively) shown the content types they most often interact with i.e if you mostly interact with static posts or carousels you’ll see a lot of those in your home feed.Â
Having said this, I do advise having Reels in your content mix as they offer greater ‘discoverability’ than any other content placement on Instagram. The good news is there are a number of ways to create them without appearing on camera.
I recently posted ‘A Writer’s Guide to Reels’ that outlines their strengths and weaknesses in more detail
And to accompany it, you might like to check out these video ideas that do not involve talking to camera:
I would also recommend spending some time consuming Reels with intention. Look for Reels that do not involve appearing on camera and think about ways you could adapt those ideas to suit you. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel - you’re a writer, not a content creator!
Q5: How do you actually find your reading tribe on Instagram?
First of all, can you name one Instagram account that posts about the kinds of books you enjoy?
Yes? Amazing. You can now do two things:
Look at the people in the comments. Visit their accounts. Reply to their comments with thoughts of your own and start a conversation with them. Are they your people?
Go to the account and look at their bio. Above their Highlights there will be some grey buttons (these may vary but often read, Following, Message, Email). Next to these buttons, on the right-hand side, is a small button with a + next to a person icon. Tap on here and you will find out why Algorithms are not always bad ;-) Based on your activity, and the activity of the account you’re on, The Algorithm will suggest other accounts you might be interested in.
No? This is where hashtags are your friend. Think of some books that you love, or genres you especially enjoy, and type them into the Search function. Tap on the top option in the list that is generated and it will take you to a page where across the top you will see For You suggestions, alongside suggestions of accounts, hashtags, Reels and more. Visit some of these accounts or posts and you should find some more of ‘your people’!Â
Q6: What are the best ways to improve engagement?
Love this question ;-)
Dominant social media culture would have us believe the only metric worth measuring is our follower count. Engagement however, is a more ‘human’ metric that is far more relevant to writers.
One of the best parts of using Instagram is that it offers an opportunity to interrupt the disconnect that modern publishing creates between story-tellers and their audiences. Having dialogue with our readers and potential readers can inform and enrich our story-telling and perspectives in the most beautiful and powerful ways!
It is important to be clear about what kind of engagement you’re looking for though: passive, or active.
Passive engagement is how I would broadly characterise the engagement Reels receive. My theory is that video content encourages audiences to take a passive role in their consumption akin to the way we watch TV: they watch, and then they move on.
In comparison, active engagement describes how our audience members can feel motivated to take action e.g. they enter into dialogue with us (comment or DM), or perhaps they feel moved to save a piece of content because they perceive its value and intend to return to it later. Â
If you want more active engagement then first of all, I suggest prioritising static posts with captions and/ or carousels in your content mix. This doesn’t mean don’t use Reels at all, it just means that if engagement is your priority, don’t make them your focus.
You also need to make sure your content is engagING, which, I hasten to add, does not mean you have to be cracking jokes, dancing or lip-syncing.Â
Some general pointers about offering engaging content to your audience:
use your content to connect with your readers, rather than endlessly updating them about your writing project or book. Make it about them, not you!
start conversations with your audience about the issues and ideas in your book. If the people in your audience are the right audience for your book, they will engage with this content.
offer ‘value’ - this can be beauty, entertainment, expertise, emotional resonance, education, information, tools, tips, advice.Â
tell personal stories that might resonate with your readers, especially stories that are linked to the themes/ ideas in your book.Â
Q7: What are the pros and cons of having someone else run my account for me?
Having someone else run your account can sound like an attractive proposition but first I’d advise considering what you see as the purpose of your Instagram account.
If you see your account as somewhere to update your audience about events, key dates, major milestones etc., a bit like a bulletin board, then it’s wholly appropriate to hand all control to someone else. This should be done with the understanding, however, that this approach to Instagram is almost guaranteed to result in low engagement and possibly stagnant growth (depending on what other PR/ marketing activity you’re engaged in).
Other cons to having someone else run your account:
You’ll lose the direct line of communication with your potential readers - will this damage the relationship and mean they’re not as engaged with your book? Does that matter to you?
You may end up heavily involved in content creation anyway, as your expertise, personal stories, and voice are difficult (impossible?) for a social media manager or assistant to accurately replicate.
Pros of someone else running your account:
You can release it from your ‘to do’ and free up that mental space and time for other things
You can avoid the potential time-sink of accidental scrolling
You can save the time required to create the posts e.g putting together carousel posts, filming videos, editing Reels
You don’t have to get to grips with the technology
You can avoid the ‘always on call’ feeling that social media can create where you feel obliged to reply to people at all hours of the day.
One approach might be to adopt a pic-n-mix approach to your Instagram presence e.g you write the content but you send it to someone else, who then creates the posts and schedules them. You could then put aside a small amount of time each day (15-30 minutes) for replying to comments and DMs.
Thank you so much Nicola!! If you aren’t already following Nicola, head here to learn more about her and get regular inspiration from her account.
Thoughts? Follow up questions? Leave a comment on Substack or just reply to this email if you’ve received it in your inbox.
Brilliant piece, made me re-think my own approach to Instagram which has been on the cards a while. Thank you x
Great newsletter - so useful!